PENZANCE Rotarians have acted quickly to pledge the cost of a ShelterBox to help communities in the central Philippines after last week's massive typhoon flattened towns and villages.

As well as causing the deaths of more than 3,600 people, Typhoon Haiyan has also resulted in around 600,000 people being made homeless.

The first 800 ShelterBoxes arrived in the Philippines from the Helston-based charity a week ago, with teams already in the country following an earthquake in October.

Also helping the relief effort in the Philippines are volunteers from the Oxfam shop in Causewayhead, Penzance.

They are appealing for cash donations from shoppers. Shop manager Matt Wicken said: "We've all seen the terrible images and we all want to help, in however small a way. Donating in the shop is easy and will make a real difference to Oxfam's emergency work."